Government
Professor Larry Sabato Is Honored With Thomas Jefferson Award

October
26, 2001-- Larry J. Sabato, the Robert Kent Gooch
Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of
Virginia and one of its best-known teachers and scholars, received
U.Va.s highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award, at Fall
Convocation ceremonies Friday.

The
award, given annually since 1955, honors a member of the University
community who exemplifies in character, work and influences the
ideals of Thomas Jefferson, U.Va.s founder.

"Without
his tremendous energy and passionate public-mindedness, the quality
of research and teaching at the University, and of political understanding
across the state and nation, would be poorer," the award citation
says of Sabato, a frequently quoted political commentator and highly
popular teacher.

"His
contributions to students, to his profession as a prolific and distinguished
scholar and to the public as an incisive and eminently sane
political analyst  all of these activities have made him indispensable."

A
University alumnus who was Student Council president, Sabato was
a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in government in 1974 and became a Rhodes
Scholar. He received his doctorate in politics from Oxford University
and taught there before returning to U.Va. in 1978 to join the government
faculty. In addition to directing the government departments
undergraduate program and honors program and establishing an important
Center for Governmental Studies, he has also reached out to Virginias
middle and high school students through the centers Youth
Leadership Initiative.

He
is the author of many widely discussed books on national politics,
including "Dirty Little Secrets: The Resurgence of Corruption
in American Politics," "Feeding Frenzy: How Attack Journalism
Has Transformed American Politics," "PAC Power: Inside
the World of Political Action Committees," and "The Partys
Just Begun: Shaping Political Parties for America's Future."
He has written many other books and articles on Virginia politics
and publishes a definitive annual series, "Virginia Votes,"
analyzing all statewide elections in detail. He has also served
on many national and state commissions, including the National Commission
for the Renewal of American Democracy and the U.S. Senate Campaign
Finance Reform Panel. In 1993 received the Outstanding Professor
Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

He
is so frequently quoted about politics in national news media that
"he seems to be everywhere. We may even take him for granted,
like the air we breathe," President John T. Casteen III said
in presenting the award. But in all that Sabato does, Casteen added,
"he has illuminated issues that are at the heart of our ever-changing
democratic process.

"His
teaching and scholarship, public work and private humanity exemplify
the ideals for which the University was founded."

Contact:
Bob Brickhouse, (434) 924-6856

FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Contact the Office
of University Relations at (804) 924-7116. Television reporters
should contact the TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.SOURCE: U.Va. News Services